There is no time like the present to look at the wellbeing and the emotional intelligence of our children. Emotional Intelligence, Weare (2004) closely connected with Goleman (1995), includes the ability to understand, express and manage our own emotions and respond to the emotions of others, in ways that are helpful to others and ourselves. We are creating citizens of the world and life long learners. How do we fully achieve this with out the inner wisdom or acknowledgement of self and the connectedness of our environment?
'To honour others and appreciate what life has, is to honour thyself and all I need’. ‘It is not the amount of knowledge we have, but rather what we do with it’.
As an educator and parent, I like to know that children are building or scaffolding their life skills in a sequential, adaptive way. Adding to their tool bag of life.
There has been lots of research into the emotional and social skill development of young children and teenagers. Dr Paula Barrett and colleagues have researched some of the emotional risks of young children and teenagers with astounding findings.
Anxiety is the most common mental health concern for children and teenagers (Pathways to Resilience Trust).
20% of preschool children show moderate to clinically significant levels of emotional and behavioural problems (Pathways to Resilience Trust).
A significant proportion of problem pre-schoolers will continue to have serious adjustment difficulties at school entry and beyond (lavigne, 1996).
As a prep teacher I have seen my share of anxious little preppies come to school, and over the years it has increased. High anxiety levels, anxiety separation not only happen in prep, but follow some children through their school life.
1-5 children have significant anxiety problems (Pathways to Resilience Trust).
Lets do the math - In a junior class of 21 students, 4 have significant anxiety problems.
In my school, of 13 junior grades (prep-2), 54 students suffer with anxiety problems. We all know anxiety and depression prevent a child from reaching their full potential.
Anxiety and depressive disorders account for 60% of schoolwork difficulties (Andrews, 2005).
This is only one major aspect of emotional development. There are many other issues that contribute to children not being able to reach their full potential.
Why social and emotional development?
There is no time like the present to look at the wellbeing and the emotional intelligence of our children. Emotional Intelligence, Weare (2004) closely connected with Goleman (1995), includes the ability to understand, express and manage our own emotions and respond to the emotions of others, in ways that are helpful to others and ourselves. We are creating citizens of the world and life long learners. How do we fully achieve this with out the inner wisdom or acknowledgement of self and the connectedness of our environment?
'To honour others and appreciate what life has, is to honour thyself and all I need’. ‘It is not the amount of knowledge we have, but rather what we do with it’.
As an educator and parent, I like to know that children are building or scaffolding their life skills in a sequential, adaptive way. Adding to their tool bag of life.
There has been lots of research into the emotional and social skill development of young children and teenagers. Dr Paula Barrett and colleagues have researched some of the emotional risks of young children and teenagers with astounding findings.As a prep teacher I have seen my share of anxious little preppies come to school, and over the years it has increased. High anxiety levels, anxiety separation not only happen in prep, but follow some children through their school life.
- 1-5 children have significant anxiety problems (Pathways to Resilience Trust).
Lets do the math - In a junior class of 21 students, 4 have significant anxiety problems.In my school, of 13 junior grades (prep-2), 54 students suffer with anxiety problems.
We all know anxiety and depression prevent a child from reaching their full potential.
This is only one major aspect of emotional development. There are many other issues that contribute to children not being able to reach their full potential.
- Trauma (abuse, neglect, loss)
- Family issues (separation, personal)
- Low self-esteem
And all of this creates low resilience.